


A Sad Excuse for Gross Fluff

by isuilde



Category: Free!
Genre: Domesticity, Established Relationship, Failed attempt at humor, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Unrepentant Fluff, hints of rinharu but not really?, plot what plot but no sex either sorry, suggestions of polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 14:57:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6333526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isuilde/pseuds/isuilde
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What the title said.</p><p>(or, in which Rin, who is dating Makoto, thinks he's in love with Haruka, who's dating Sousuke, and begins wooing him. Sousuke is mostly very confused, and probably a bit jealous. Or panicky. Haruka just thinks it's hilarious. Makoto is--just obliviously in love with Rin.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Sad Excuse for Gross Fluff

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably the last time I attempt to be funny. Remind me to never try to be funny again.
> 
> Anyway, almost a year ago, I thought this was a good idea. Somehow. So I began writing it, got stuck and left it in the back burner. But then waifu's birthday was coming up and I had no idea what to write, so I tried to continue it, and it... just basically a long string of failure. Still, though, thank you teletou for being my sounding board as usual!
> 
> But this is what I could come up with. Happy birthday, dear butleronduty, I'm sorry I'm late too this year orz. Have a Makorin+SouHaru that questionably borders on OT4 but not really, I guess, because I apparently have no idea what the fuck I was writing. I hope you at least laugh at how fail this is though lol. Also doubles for serkestic's birthday gift, Happy birthday, both of you are amazing and a gift to the world, thank you for being born.

Rin wakes up one morning, and thinks, _huh, I’m in love with Haru_.

Makoto is still curled up next to him, head tucked under Rin’s chin, and Rin takes a second to mush his face into the disarrayed brown strands and inhales Makoto’s scent. It’s a nice morning out for a run, but their bed is warm and Makoto is warm and soft against him, even with the unpleasant stickiness on his stomach after their late night activities. The soft, early sun rays that break through their curtains fall against Makoto’s back, and Rin resists the urge to run his fingertips down the line of Makoto’s spine.

There are other important things to do. Like going on his morning run and dropping by Haruka’s café to tell him that Rin’s in love with him. Besides, he doesn’t want to wake Makoto up.

His boyfriend—wow, that thought still sends warmth spreading in his chest, _what the fuck_ —makes unintelligible vague noises as Rin silently slips off the bed. He bends down to kiss the corner of Makoto’s eyes briefly, indulging in his romantic impulse for a moment, watches the slight frown marring Makoto’s face smooth out before trudging over to the bathroom.

Morning run first, and he’d probably see Sousuke on his usual route. He’d have to talk things out with him, too—Sousuke is Haruka’s boyfriend, after all.

**\-----o0o-----**

He does see Sousuke on his way back—black hair still mussed and eyes still bleary despite being dressed in his usual running attires—and Rin remembers that Sousuke’s gotten a shift last night since Nakagawa was on vacation. He feels bad for having to tell him about his revelation this morning, considering the exhausted look on his best friend’s face, but he’s gotta do what he needs to do, right?

“Hey,” he says, stopping by Sousuke’s side and offering his water bottle. Sousuke accepts it without even looking, though the grunt of gratitude he gives indicates how tired he is. Rin frowns. “Did you sleep at all?”

“Not yet,” Sousuke mutters, then throws his head back to down half of Rin’s water. “Figured I’d do it after running.”

“Skipping your morning run once isn’t going to make you lose your muscles or something, idiot,” Rin says, knocking his knuckles gently against the back of Sousuke’s head. “No matter. It’s good you’re out running, though, I have something I need to tell you.”

Sousuke makes a face. “If it’s bad news, can it wait?”

“It’s important, so no,” Rin says. “So, I think I’m in love with Haru.”

Sousuke blinks. Stares at him for a long moment, and then blinks again.

“With Haru,” he repeats very slowly. “Nanase Haruka. As in, my current boyfriend.”

“Who owns the café right across our station, yeah,” Rin nods. “I’ll be dropping by to confess, by the way.”

“Uh,” Sousuke says eloquently. “You have a boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah, Makoto’s still asleep, though.” Rin shrugs. “If I go to the café now, I should make it back before seven—Makoto wanted me to wake him up early today, he’s taking early shift in the fire station so he’d be home for dinner tonight. Which is great, it’s been a while since he’s home before dinner—“

Sousuke’s eyebrows meet. “It’s fifteen to seven.”

Rin stares at him. Then he hastily digs out his phone from his pocket and fumbles with it—sure enough, it says 6:45 am. He curses. “I need to get home. I’ll see you after lunch, I guess? I’ll just confess to Haru when I come over for lunch, or something. I’ll probably bring flowers—wait, does Haru like roses?”

“Roses,” Sousuke repeats dumbly, and Rin beams.

“Roger that. Catch you later, I need to wake Makoto up now or we wouldn’t have time for a quickie in the shower.”

He jogs past Sousuke, who remains rooted at his place with the most confused look on his face. That’s to be expected, though—after all, Rin’s just told him that he’s after Haruka, so Sousuke probably has a lot in his mind to parse through right now.

In the meantime, Rin wonders if he could at least get a handjob from Makoto before the older man has to rush to the station.

**\-----o0o-----**

Makoto welcomes him with a kiss—messy with shaving cream slathering the lower half of his face, and Rin’s laughter bubbles up his throat because Makoto obviously does that on purpose.

“Jerk,” he elbows Makoto good-naturedly, and earns himself a pout unbecoming of a twenty-five year old firefighter.

“You promised to wake me up,” Makoto points out, lips twitching up helplessly as Rin leans up to kiss his pout away. “I woke up alone, Rin. It was horrible.”

Rin grins, stealing the damp towel sitting on the bathroom sink to wipe off the mess of white foam clinging on the edges of his lips. Makoto leans down again, this time to nuzzle him on the cheek, smearing more shaving cream across Rin’s face, and Rin catches his shoulder in a playful bite, but doesn’t push him away. “Stop it, Tachibana.”

“It was horrible,” Makoto repeats, each syllable laced with laughter. “You _promised_.”

“You are such a huge man-child,” the complaint comes out too fond, too affectionate, as Rin nibbles on the junction of Makoto’s collarbone, disregarding the way Makoto’s shoulders are still shaking from laughter. “But fair enough, I’ll make it up to you.”

With that, he drops to his knees and deftly pulls Makoto’s pajama pants down, earning a surprised yelp from the taller man. “Rin! I’ll be late!”

Rin flashes a grin, all sharp teeth and confidence. “That’d be your own fault.”

Makoto’s protests die in his throat as soon as Rin puts his mouth to work.

**\-----o0o-----**

What’s supposed to be a five-minutes quickie turns into half an hour, but neither of them looks like they’re regretting it even when Makoto hurries around their apartment, more than five minutes late to his shift. Rin decides to be a good boyfriend and makes him a breakfast sandwich, which earns him a grateful kiss on the lips as Makoto passes the kitchen and takes the sandwich.

“I can’t find my socks,” Makoto says from the _genkan_ , this time sounding pretty close to panicking. “Oh, no, never mind, there they are.”

“Don’t forget your keys!” Rin calls from the living room, does a double-take when he spots Makoto’s IC card lying on the coffee table. He swipes it off the table and takes it with him to the _genkan_ , where Makoto is putting on his shoes. “How are you gonna get to work without _this_?”

Makoto looks up, brightens. “Ah! Thank you, Rin!”

There’s something in the way Makoto says ‘thank you’ that warms Rin all over. Even more so as he steps closer and hands the card to Makoto, who just pulls him closer in turn and presses their foreheads together. “You’ll be at the café for lunch?”

Rin grins. “Yeah, I’ve got to talk to Haru anyway. You have your keys?”

“And my card,” Makoto chuckles, pocketing the IC card as he drops a light kiss on Rin’s nose before letting him go. “Alright, I’m off then.”

“I’ll see you at lunch,” Rin says, casually waves at Makoto as he opens the front door. “Oh, and—Makoto?”

Makoto pauses, then turns curious eyes on him. “Yeah?”

“What do you want for dinner? I was thinking of asking Haru to come, too.”

The curious look brightens as Makoto beams. “Chocolate mousse, then.”

“Huge man-child,” Rin sighs, lips twitching up. “The question is dinner, Makoto, not dessert.”

The door swings open, and  Makoto slips out; Rin watches as his smile grows brighter under the sun rays. “Anything you want to eat tonight would be great, Rin.” And really, it’s unfair how easily Makoto could make him feel warm all over, could make him smile over the most ridiculous line that shouldn’t sound so earnest, so sincere. Rin thinks it’s probably because he’s just so far gone, but he’s long since resigned himself to that fate anyway. “I’m going. _Ittekimasu_.”

“ _Itterasshai_ ,” Rin answers, and Makoto throws him one last smile before closing the door completely.

**\-----o0o-----**

When Sousuke enters the café, eyebrows knitting and eyes confused, Haruka slides a plate of mackerel and a cup of tea before him.

Sousuke blinks at the plate, almost blearily. “What?”

"Breakfast,” Haruka lies, because he’s cooked a proper breakfast for Sousuke at home, except his boyfriend apparently decided to come to the café after his morning run stead of going home and sleep like any other normal person after a night shift. “Your coffee is at home.”

Sousuke raises his eyes to look at Haruka and says, “Are you serious.”

Haruka just stares back at him. “Did you get lost on your way home?”

He thinks half of Sousuke’s brain is probably not even online, at this point, because Sousuke just stares at him some more like he can’t figure Haruka out, before returning his gaze to the plate of mackerel. Or maybe Sousuke’s brain is all mush by now, considering he probably hasn’t slept in the last fourteen hours. He wonders if it’s okay to knock his boyfriend out now, for his own good.

“Did Rin come over?”

“…..” Definitely out of it. “Go home and sleep.”

“He wanted to bring you roses.”

Haruka sighs. On second thought, sending Sousuke home right now is probably unwise—he’d probably just get lost in the park and spend another three hours circling the whole park until he drops dead asleep under a tree. “Go in the back and sleep.”

“Do you even like roses?”

Haruka resists the temptation to roll his eyes, pulls Sousuke up and drags him off to the back of the café.

**\-----o0o-----**

In the end, Rin doesn’t wait until lunch. He goes straight to the florist on his way to the station, stays a while there chatting up the owner Yazaki because apparently the two rascals Ai and Momo have been up to something, again.

“You should just give them a good smack with a broom,” Rin grouches. Yazaki just laughs.

“It’s alright. They make our small town more exciting than it’s supposed to be,” she hums, deft fingers working stems of red roses into a bouquet. “You know they’re just doing this to get your attention, Matsuoka-kun. And Yamazaki-kun’s, sometimes, but mostly you.” The underlining _you popular bastard, you_ hangs unspoken with Yazaki’s sunflower smile, but coming from Yazaki, it’s definitely a praise, and Rin snorts.

“As long as they don’t cause too much harm.”

“Oh, they just took the out-of-season flowers that hadn’t been selling well anyway. I would have had to throw them away if they didn’t steal those flowers to give them to old people, probably.” She ties the bouquet with a ribbon, crimson red like the color of the petals. “Besides, every time they steal something from my store, my housechores mysteriously gets done without me having to do them, so it’s actually helpful. Here you go.”

Rin accepts the bouquet of roses in exchange for his credit card, grinning wide in excitement. “Perfect.”

Yazaki’s hip leans against the counter as she punches in numbers, doesn’t even look at Rin even though her tone grows curious. “Is today a special date for you and Makoto-kun? Or did you guys fight and you’re trying to make up?”

Rin waves a hand dismissively. “Nah, it’s nothing like that. I wouldn’t get Makoto roses, I’d get him peonies or forget-me-nots.”

Yazaki hands back the credit card with an amused smile. “Romantic as usual. Then who are these—“

“These are for Haru,” Rin grins. “I’m going to confess.”

Yazaki drops the both the card and the receipt, which sucks because they do not make a satisfying proper clatter of some sort to signify her surprise.

“…eh..?”

**\-----o0o-----**

“Seriously though,” Sousuke says when he wakes up and is gathering his stuff to leave the café because he has another shift in two hours and he thinks he should at least take a shower. “Do you even like roses?”

It’s about forty minutes before the usual lunch rush hour begins, and Haruka is simultaneously chopping vegetables away on the cutting board as well as deep frying croquettes. There’s a pot with sliced potatoes and carrots and beef bubbling on the other side of the stove, and Sousuke drops his bag on the floor, his arm reaching above Haruka’s head for the jar of homemade curry roux to drop two of them into the pot. He stirs them almost absently, his other hand going for the arrays of spices—salt and pepper and cumin seeds—and when he reaches for the blocks of chocolates, Haruka pauses on his chopping to slap his hand lightly.

“Ow,” Sousuke says just for the sake of it. Haruka just redirects his hand towards the carton of coconut milk with a pointed look that’s grown extremely familiar ever since he opened his own café: _my café, my recipe_ , and Sousuke shrugs, obligingly pouring the coconut milk into the pot of curry.

“I don’t mind flowers,” Haruka replies once Sousuke stops stirring and is bending down to pick up his bag from the floor. The staccato of his chopping has stopped, replaced by the sizzlings of pans. “They’d look good with the decoration.”

Sousuke stares at him, one eyebrow raised. “Do you want flowers?”

Haruka meets his gaze, unfazed, one hand raising the ladle from the stew and dangles it before Sousuke’s eyes. “Do you want to give me flowers?”

He holds Haruka’s gaze for a long moment, before ducking his head a bit and takes a sip from the ladle. The rich, savory flavor of it bursts in his mouth, a bit too strong—he swipes the last of the tomatoes on the chopping board and lets them plunge into the stew pot, before shouldering his bag. “I better get going.”

“Hmm,” Haruka says, tilting his head back almost automatically to meet Sousuke’s kiss halfway. Their shoulders brush, and something in Sousuke’s chest gives way to gross fondness that overwhelms him for a whole second, before he reminds himself that no, he’s not Rin, so he pulls away and ruffles Haruka’s hair as he turns to leave.

Haruka bats his hand lightly. “Wash the dishes.”

“And take out the trash,” Sousuke ends dutifully, waving a dismissive hand, and walks out of the café’s kitchen. He passes Hanamura Chigusa manning the register on his way out, and catches her half-whisper half-shout of: “You could never go wrong with roses!”

Sousuke stares at her for a moment, until she flicks both of her thumbs up at him with a sparkle in her eyes that reminds her eerily of Gou when she’s going through her magazines with muscular men spread in questionable poses, looking somehow expectant, and Sousuke gives a tilt of his head.

Maybe he should think about it.

**\-----o0o-----**

Haruka doesn’t bat an eye when Rin comes into the café and, in the midst of the last lunch hour rush customers, shoves a bouquet of roses into his arms. The way his heart skips a beat at the sight of Haruka holding the bouquet isn’t unfamiliar—he still gets it when he so much as stare at Makoto’s sleepy smile, after all—and Rin leans forward against the counter, peering up at Haruka and tries to ignore the little voice in his head that says _Haru’s going to reject you Haru’s going to reject you_. “I love you.”

“Uh-huh, thanks,” Haruka says, and Rin is pleased that he’s ignoring the wide-eyed customer who sits next to Rin and looks like he’s choking on his sandwich. He watches Haruka stride back into the kitchen, disappearing for a while before reappearing again with a vase, half-filled with water.

Rin eyes him, trying to gauge the usual blank look on Haruka’s face. “Do you have any plans for dinner?”

“I’m the chef here, I actually have work at dinner time.” The roses go into the vase, Haruka’s fingers flitting in-between the thorns as he arranges them carefully, before putting the vase decisively in front of Rin and points at one of the small tables on the corner that displays today’s menu. “This goes there.”

“You have actual workers here,” Rin snits, out of habit, but his mind throws confetti when the corners of Haruka’s lips twitch up. He does take the vase off the counter, narrowly avoiding a young girl who’s lining up for the register, and brings the vase of roses to where Haruka wants them. After a moment of thought, he curls a finger along a stem of rose and pulls it out, twirling it in-between his fingers.

"Your order?” Hanamura Chigusa swings by as he returns to his seat on the counter, watching Haruka man the register. With how popular the café lately, Haruka really should hire more part-timers. “Where’s Tachibana-san?”

Rin points at the three-colored curry rice, and eyes her suspiciously. “Away from your prying eyes.”

Hanamura gives him a mock-pout. “A girl has the right to appreciate fine men from a respectable distance. I thought Gou taught you better, Matsuoka-san.” She taps the edge of the counter with her pen, a growing smirk on her lips as her eyes flick up and down, clearly checking Rin out. “No worries, it doesn’t seem you’re slacking off at all.”

Rin bats at her, shoulders shaking by laughter. “I should ban you and your shamelessness from hanging out with my sister.”

“Don’t flirt with customers,” Haruka says almost absently as he passes by.

“Only to your friends, Nanase-san,” Hanamura shoots back lightly, but she turns away anyway, heading towards one of the calling customers. Haruka pauses in front of Rin, a questioning look on his face, and Rin rests his chin on one hand, a fond smile curving up his lips.

“Dinner, Haru.”

“Work, Rin.”

Rin rolls his eyes. “You’re the fucking owner, you’re allowed to let your workers close up. Besides, Makoto wants chocolate mousse for dessert and that’s going to take some time to make, so it’s gonna be a late dinner. Sousuke has a shift anyway, right?” He grins at the thoughtful look that flits through Haruka’s face. “Come on Haru, it’d be a date. I’ll even cook all-mackerel dishes for you.”

Haruka flicks him an impassive look. “No eating Makoto’s face at the table.”

Rin’s lips curve downwards—stealing a taste of dessert off Makoto’s lips is one of his favorite part of dinner, usually. But if that’s going to make Haruka’s jealous, he supposes he could do without licking off chocolate sauce from the corner of Makoto’s mouth for one night. “Fine.” If he’s good enough, maybe—“Only yours, then?”

“Ha ha.” Haruka says, shrugging as he turns towards the kitchen at the same time the bell above the entrance tinkles, signaling a new customer. Hanamura’s excited “Tachibana-san!” alerts them before Rin and Haruka could even turn, and really, Rin couldn’t help the silly, wide grin that pulls at his cheeks at the sight of his boyfriend.

Not that Makoto’s bright smile when he looks at both Rin and Haruka helps. “Haru! Rin!”

“Beat you here,” Rin says, chuckling as Makoto slips to the seat next to him, shoulders pressing against his own. His fingers find Makoto’s own, lacing them together almost automatically as Haruka and Makoto exchanges silent nods. Haruka turns away towards the kitchen for real, this time, probably having figured out what Makoto wasn’t to order without Makoto saying it at all.

Rin nudges the stem of rose he’d plucked earlier towards Makoto, earning a bashful smile from the older guy. “Roses?”

“Brought Haru some,” Rin says, shrugging, feeling the heat return to his cheeks now that Makoto’s warmth is a constant presence by his side. Makoto hums, taking the stem carefully and pressing his lips against the petals—an unfairly lethal gesture, Rin thinks.

“I met Sousuke on the way here,” Makoto says, head tilted a he peers at Rin over the petals. “He said you might bring Haru roses. He also looked confused at a lot of things.”

Rin laughs. “I guess he must have a lot of things to sort through.”

**\-----o0o-----**

Sousuke catches Makoto dropping off Rin at the station—they must have walked together from Haruka’s café instead of taking the bus, probably holding hands, too. Gross.—and sends Rin a teasing smirk as Makoto waves them goodbye. “Stupid couple.”

Rin shoves his shoulder good-naturedly. “It’s called a happy relationship.”

“You’re really not that much better than Rei and Nagisa,” Sousuke points out. “And Nagisa usually climbs Rei like a baby koala.”

“Nagisa climbs _everyone_ like a baby koala,” Rin replies dismissively, throwing himself into the chair Sousuke had just vacated. He looks up at Sousuke, eyes bright and happy, and there’s a smug tone underlining his words when he continues, “and I brought Haru his roses.”

Sousuke hums absent-mindedly, turning back to the pile of paperwork on his desk and rifling through them. There was a file that needed Rin’s sign, earlier, and he was sure he’d set it aside. Once he could find it, they could both go on patrol. “Thought you might.”

“He put them on a vase,” Rin tells him. “Also, I told him that I love him.”

There is a long moment of silence between them, in which Sousuke tries to decide whether or not his ear is picking up the right words, or if his brain’s language function has stopped working. He turns to Rin, slowly, and says, “I thought I was half-asleep this morning.”

Rin nods earnestly at him. “To be fair, you were.”

“When you said you’re in love with Haru—“

“And that I was going to confess, yeah. I did. Haru said thanks.”

“Nanase Haruka. My current boyfriend.”

Rin beams up a grin at him. “I don’t mind sharing Haru with you, Sousuke, don’t worry. You have him first, after all, and Haru loves you, so.”

Sousuke stares at Rin, completely at loss. “What about Makoto?”

“Oh,” Rin’s face changes, eyebrows tauting, like he’s thinking the question over. “I’m—I never knew you’re interested in Makoto like that. I’m not sure—I guess I kind of mind, sharing him a little, even if it’s with you, but I don’t know if Makoto would be… interested? To be shared, between us?”

 _This is so wrong_ , Sousuke’s brain suggests, because out of all people in his life who might suggest the very idea of polyamory, Sousuke had thought Rin would be one of the last ones to do so. Matsuoka Rin is _the_ romantic, who believes in pledging his love and life to his one and only love, probably in that exact string of words. “Rin, are you feeling okay?”

He gets a wide, rogue grin as an answer. “What are you talking about, I’m great. Also,” he rises to his feet, snatching the papers in Sousuke’s hands and begins rifling through it himself, finding the paper Sousuke’s been looking for without difficulties. “I’m exchanging shift with Kisumi. He’ll be here soon, and I’ll take over his midnight shift, so you,” he snatches the pen from Sousuke’s pocket, scribbling his name on the bottom of the paper. “Will be patrolling with him, because I need to cook dinner.”

Sousuke blinks. “It’s not even four.”

"Makoto wants chocolate mousse,” Rin sighs, a fond smile playing on his lips. “Dessert isn’t my forte. Also I promised Haru to do all-mackerel dishes. I’ll save some for you so Haru could bring it back, no worries.”

The pen slides back into Sousuke’s pocket, and Rin is grinning. “I’ll be heading home, then. See you tomorrow, Sousuke!”

**\-----o0o-----**

When he drops by their apartment to take a shower before going to Makoto and Rin’s for dinner, Haruka finds his living room covered in rose petals.

His first instinct is to call the police, because who in the world would have done this? Not Sousuke, that’s who. But then he remembers Sousuke’s question earlier today, and then the bouquet of roses that Rin brought him at lunch, and Haruka stares at the red petals making a path towards their bedroom for a moment longer before deciding that calling Makoto would probably be the wisest course of action.

“Did I miss an important holiday?” he asks unsurely once Makoto picks up. Makoto makes a sort of distracted, confused noise, and Haruka could hear the background noise of the fire station—firemen saying goodbye to one another after a shift. He adds, by lieu of explanation, “There are rose petals on my floor.”

 _“Maybe Sousuke’s just trying to be romantic for once?”_ Makoto suggests, and Haruka makes a choking sounds that is an aborted laugh. _“Haru, don’t be mean, he’s your boyfriend.”_

“He’s also not Rin,” Haruka replies very pointedly. He hears Makoto’s exasperated sigh. “I’ll see you for dinner.”

_“You should at least thank him, Haru.”_

“Cleaning this is going to be a pain in the ass,” he tells Makoto, and hangs up. He stares at the trail of rose petals, wonders how much money Sousuke spends for so many roses, and crouches to pluck a lone petal from the floor.

 _Clean the apartment when you get home tomorrow,_ is the text he shoots Sousuke, but the lone petal he picked up goes into his wallet, pressed behind a photo of him and Iwatobi-chan when he came home last year.

**\-----o0o-----**

Dinner, Makoto thinks, is kind of weird.

It’s not because Rin is doing all-mackerel dishes—Makoto doesn’t mind that, really. Haruka cooks all the time and he knows Haruka appreciates the time when he could eat his favorite dishes that he doesn’t have to cook himself. Having chocolate mousse for dessert is great, too, and Rin had let him taste a bit of it before Haruka arrived for dinner, resulting in a considerable mess in the kitchen because Rin had decided that he’d like a taste, too, straight out of Makoto’s palates.

And things progress rather normally as they eat, at least until Haruka pauses in the middle of conversation, and says pointedly, “Rin, that’s not Makoto’s legs.”

Makoto blinks. He turns to Rin, who goes an interesting shade of red, and watches as Rin looks at Haruka almost determinedly, resting his chin on one hand, and smirks at Haruka.

Dangerously, Haruka’s eyes narrow.

 _Oh no_ , Makoto thinks with a sense of resignation, and the competition is _on_.

**\-----o0o-----**

Haruka silently wonders if the game of gay chicken is played by two gay guys who is not into each other (because they both have boyfriends, and one of the said boyfriends who also happens to be his bestest friend is sitting right across him) could still be called gay chicken. He tenses a bit when Rin’s toes skitter across his knee, rubbing almost teasingly, and tells himself to breathe.

Like hell is he going to lose.

So he pulls up his other foot, blindly searching for the back of Rins leg, and brushes his toes swiftly there until they meet the crook of Rin’s thigh, and Rin makes a choked noise in the middle of answering Makoto.

Haruka smirks.

He also doesn’t miss Makoto’s exasperated, but amused sigh.

**\-----o0o-----**

Maybe Rin should have asked Sousuke first, before initiating this. Because as much as he loves Haruka, he did spend hours on cooking this mackerel feast, and this is only their first dinner date, so Rin probably shouldn’t be thinking of taking Haruka to bed. Besides, he hasn’t talked to Makoto about this, and they only have one bed.

He guesses he should have known that Haruka would be the aggressive type. Sousuke really should have warned him, though.

So he drops his foot, scooting a bit closer to Makoto, and instead points his fork at Haruka. “We’ll only buy a King-sized bed if you also chip in, Haru.”

Makoto chokes on his drink. Rin pats him gently on the back, meeting Makoto’s confused look with a light shrug of his shoulders. “Let’s face it, we don’t have the money for that now.”

“Uhh,” Makoto says, but Haruka doesn’t miss a beat. “What, you think I can’t take you on the couch?”

Rin leers at him. “You don’t think it’s too fast for that kind of invitation, Haru?”

Haruka throws him a smirk, one eyebrow raised. “We all know you lost your virginity to Makoto way long after I did to Sousuke, Rin.”

That one gets Makoto to make dying whale noises. Rin is mostly not sure if Haruka is trying to be seductive or teasing his masculinity. “Not a guarantee of your skill in bed, Haru,” he counters, then pauses. “Or couch, in this case.”

“Can we not,” Makoto moans, his face flat against his palms.

**\-----o0o-----**

In an unexpected turn of events, Sousuke picks him up.

Haruka stares from the kitchen, elbows deep in suds, as Sousuke strides into the living room with Makoto following behind him, and watches as Rin lightly punches Sousuke on the shoulder. Then he meets Sousuke’s eyes, and Haruka says, “Your shift should end in another two hours.”

“Kirishima-san gave me the night off,” Sousuke says. He has a chopstick in his hand, and Haruka isn’t surprised when he just snatches a piece of baked mackerel from the leftover containers Rin had left aside before. “Rin, this is good.”

“Of course it is, I spent hours,” Rin’s voice comes from the living room, sounding smug. “And I’m not Makoto.”

Haruka stifles a laugh, the predictable whine of “Riiiiinnnn!” reaching his ears. He turns back to rinse the last of the suds from the plate he’s holding, before leaving it to dry and steps aside just in time for Sousuke to rinse his chopsticks.

“Ready to go home?” Sousuke asks. Haruka just raises an eyebrow.

“I was gonna stay for a bit.”

“Brought you your jacket,” Sousuke says, voice dropping into a low murmur. Haruka’s eyes flicks to the living room, where Makoto has his head on Rin’s lap and Rin is dropping an affectionate peck on Makoto’s lips.

Sousuke’s arm brushes his own, and Haruka kind of wants to hate the part of him who gives up almost too easily. Except he doesn’t.

“Okay.”

**\-----o0o-----**

The weight of the bike jacket on his shoulders is a familiar feeling by now. Haruka shrugs it on before catching the helmet Sousuke throws him. “Where are we going?”

Sousuke leans back to look at him properly, and Haruka takes a moment to appreciate the lines of Sousuke’s figure on his sleek motorbike, his black windbreaker jacket blending with the night sky, hair tousled in an almost stylish way. There’s something about it that makes him hunger, for touch, for warmth, for Sousuke. Haruka takes a breath, and puts on the helmet.

“I was thinking the bridge,” Sousuke replies. The bridge that crosses the lake, bordering their town with another prefecture. Haruka nods—people don’t usually take the bridge ever since the new underground road was made so it’d probably be empty at this time of the night, and they’d both love the speed they could go for, the wind that races by their side. “Get on.”

Haruka does. He lets his arms wind around Sousuke’s waist, securing it by grasping Sousuke’s jacket. Sousuke’s hand, covered in gloves, covers his own for a moment, making sure that Haruka’s holding tight, and then the bike goes.

With the jacket and helmet on, the bite of the night wind goes without touching them. Haruka watches the town lights blur past, watches the residential areas give way to the busier business district, absently counts the number of people going in and out of doors. Sousuke back is warm against him, his scent a familiar reassurance by now, and Haruka lets himself think, _I love him_.

They cross the bridge in less than five minutes. Sousuke turns back towards their town and brings the bike to a stop in the mid-point of the bridge, killing the engine. It’s kind of their thing, now—the night ride, that is—and Sousuke would stop somewhere before they go home, and they would either talk or sit on the bike in silence, or make out. Depends on the mood, really.

“So,” Sousuke begins as he fishes out his water bottle, and Haruka supposes tonight is the talk night. “Rin brought you roses.”

“Also challenged me to play footsie at dinner,” Haruka adds just as Sousuke tips the bottle against his mouth. There’s a hilarious choking noise from the taller man, and Haruka does his best to keep his face blank and not burst out into laughter.

“He what?”

“Can you call it gay chicken when the ones playing it are actually gay?”

“Haru.”

“You should’ve seen Makoto’s face, it was hilarious.”

Sousuke looks like he’s torn between snarking back or worrying, and that’s really not a good look on him. Haruka’s lips twitch up in an amused smile, and he throws his gaze off to the lake spread before them, and doesn’t say anything as he drops his head on Sousuke’s shoulder.

Sousuke doesn’t say anything about it, either. Instead he says, “Rin thinks he’s in love with you.”

Haruka snorts. “When we left, he was also very enthusiastically trying to drag Makoto into the bathroom.”

“Hmm,” Sousuke grunts. “I guess it’s nothing, then.”

**\-----o0o-----**

The next day, Sousuke arrives at the station just as Rin is leaving, looking like he might fall asleep on his feet. He catches Rin’s elbow, holding him back because Rin is his best friend and Sousuke worries. Not as much as Makoto does, but yeah, Sousuke worries. “Want me to drop you home?”

Rin pats him on the shoulder. “I’ll be fi—“ the word is swallowed by a tired yawn. “—ine, I’ll just drop by Haru’s for coffee. Promised Makoto I’d meet him for breakfast.”

“If Makoto’s not late for work you should get him to drop you home.”

Rin makes a sleepy, acknowledging noise. “Yeah, that sounds nice. I could probably persuade him to skip work today, or something.” Then he pauses, blinking like he’d just remembered something very, very important. “Wait, no. I have plans today. Haru plans. Have to talk to Makoto about Haru, too.”

Sousuke raises an eyebrow. “You’re half-asleep, you don’t know what you’re thinking, Rin.”

“You don’t think I’m serious, do you,” Rin gives him a funny look. “By the way, I might go to your house today. As in, your parents’ house. Do you think your mother would mind if I borrow her sewing machine?”

“What?”

“I thought of making a new apron for Haru. Like, handmade one. I’ll ask Gou to help me today, but we’ll need a sewing machine, and your family’s the only one of ours who actually live here—”

“Wait, time out,” Sousuke says, pressing his palm against Rin’s mouth when that doesn’t stop Rin from talking. “Rin, Rin. You’re actually trying to woo my boyfriend.”

“Mffhmm,” Rin’s voice is muffled, but there’s the affirmative tone in it. Sousuke narrows his eyes.

"Rin, you have a boyfriend.”

The next string of muffled words sound like “A very great one, yeah,” but Sousuke just rolls his eyes. He doesn’t need Rin being sappy so early in the morning. “Your boyfriend is Makoto. Right? Do you love Makoto?”

Rin looks extremely offended, and his hand reaches up to tug Sousuke’s away from his mouth. “What kind of stupid question is that? Of course I love Makoto.”

“But you’re trying to woo _my_ boyfriend,” Sousuke points out. “Of course I’m questioning you.”

Rin just stares back at him like Sousuke is the one who is incredibly dumb. “Of course I’m trying to woo Haru, Sousuke. I told you yesterday, _I’m in love with Haru_.” And Rin has the nerve to sigh, exasperatedly, like Sousuke really shouldn’t be the one being so dumbfounded at everything that comes out of his mouth. “Alright, I have to go, I can’t be late, I only have twenty minutes for breakfast with Makoto as it is. See you later.”

And then he’s gone.

Sousuke spends the rest of the morning doing paperwork while procrastinating by looking up polyamory cases and experiences on the internet. In the end, though, he decides to just shoot a text to Makoto and ask him to get lunch together at Haru’s, because he supposes the safest course of action is to talk about this with both Haru and Makoto.

He prints out what he found on polyamory too, just in case.

**\-----o0o-----**

Makoto’s first reaction on Sousuke’s story is this: “Oh, I thought Rin was just messing with Haru, like usual.”

And much to Sousuke’s chagrin, Haruka pauses by their table and actually looks surprised. “He’s not?”

“He’s not,” Sousuke confirms. “He seems to believe that he’s in love with you.”

“He’s also been embarrassingly all over Makoto, like usual,” Haruka says. He doesn’t take a seat, just leans against Makoto’s chair like it’s second nature. “Earlier he told Makoto he’d bring him boxed lunch if Makoto wouldn’t have time for lunch today.”

“Haruuu,” Makoto whines, a shade of red spreading to the tips of his ears. “He was half-asleep.”

Sousuke decides against making a face at Makoto at how gross he and Rin are, in favor of looking up at Haruka. “He’s trying to make you a new apron.”

Makoto tilts his head. “Is that why Rin said he was going to go to your parents’ house?” He looks back at the papers strewn over their table, somehow managing to look kind of shy and curious at the same time. “Why were you researching polyamory?”

“Because he said he doesn’t mind sharing Haru with me,” Sousuke answers. “And then I asked, what about you, and Rin said that he might mind having to share you. A little bit.”

Haruka raises his eyebrows at that, and Makoto actually blushes. “Uhhh, no offense, Sousuke, but I kind of, don’t look at you that way? I mean, you’re hot and all, but. Yeah.”

“That is awkward,” Haruka says unhelpfully. Sousuke buries his face on his palms.

**\-----o0o-----**

The problem, unexpectedly, solves itself, in the form of Rei and Nagisa bursting into Haruka’s café just as Sousuke and Makoto stand up to leave.

“Where’s Rin-san?” Rei gasps, like he’s run all the way from the university with Nagisa hanging off his arm—which he probably did, considering how Nagisa just beams at them all. “There’s been a mistake—“

“So,” Nagisa says in a much too cheerful tone. “I accidentally mixed up Rei’s experimental love potion drink and served it to Rin-chan when he visited us the other day.”

“What,” Sousuke says, and Makoto goes, “Huh?” and Haruka closes it with, “I see.”

**\-----o0o-----**

Rin comes back to his apartment later that night to Makoto opening the door, looking so sympathetic at how exhausted and bleary Rin looks, that Rin just has to throw his arms around Makoto’s shoulder and pulls him into a kiss. And then notice that they have guests.

“Why is everyone here,” Rin says, doesn’t even bother to stand up properly and just leans against Makoto. Why would you stand up properly anyway, when you have Makoto standing right beside you, supporting your weight like it’s nothing? Except then Rin sees Haruka sitting with Nagisa clinging on his back, and he remembers the wrapped package in his hand. “Oh, good timing though! Haru, here’s for you—“

“Is that the apron,” Nagisa chirps, and Rin pauses, surprised. Nagisa grins. “The one you made for Haru-chan?”

“How did you even find out—nevermind,” Rin sighs, turning an accusing look at Sousuke. “Tattled on me, didn’t you?”

“I did it for your own good,” Sousuke says solemnly.

“There is an explanation for all of this, “ Rei speaks up. “The potion isn’t actually perfected yet, so it should wear off pretty soon—“

Haruka, who’s taken the wrapped package from Rin’s hand and is now opening it, snorts. “I wish it doesn’t. He’s hilarious.” He pulls out the apron and spread it out, looking extremely amused at the messy-looking hand embroidery in the shape of a heart on the front side of the apron. “Well, at least it’s not frilly.”

“Your mother is a slavedriver,” Rin informs Sousuke. “She drilled me nonstop, I couldn’t sneak in naps at all while working at this. Do you see these eyebags? These are the eyebags of love.”

Haruka makes a chortling sound. Makoto stifles a laugh, and Nagisa bursts out laughing. Sousuke and Rei just stares at Rin—Sousuke in disbelief, while Rei’s gaze is positively judging. “Rin-san, you should probably go to bed.”

“Well,” Rin acquiesces, letting Makoto tug him towards the bedroom. He accepts the glass of—not-water? Something lime-green, and it oddly tastes like grape candy—that Makoto hands him, draining it in big gulps. Was he that thirsty? His brain feels like a mush.

“That should help his body work through the potion faster,” he hears Rei speak, and he tilts his head up, searching for Makoto’s smile.

“What potion?” he asks, even as his eyes go unbearably heavy, and Makoto chuckles, pressing a kiss against his temple as he gathers Rin into his arms.

“Apparently you drank a love potion.”

 _That’s absurd,_ Rin wants to say, but he’s too sleepy for that.

**\------o0o-----**

When Rin wakes up, Makoto helps him not strangle Nagisa. Which is probably good, because Nagisa just perches on the other side of the couch, eating Makoto’s stock of kitkats and looking like everything is right in the world, when Rin feels like he’s having the worst hangover of his life.

Haruka, on the other hand, is cooking breakfast with Sousuke in their kitchen, wearing the apron Rin had made for him.

“Ugh,” Rin groans from the cage of Makoto’s arms. “Haru, take that hideous thing off.”

Haruka spares him a glance. “You were very proud of this apron last night.”

Rin glares daggers at him. Of course, Haruka doesn’t care.

**\-----o0o-----**

Sousuke gets apologized to the most. Rei even makes Nagisa apologize to him, Rin apologizes three times, and Sousuke isn’t sure if this counts, but he catches Makoto gives him an apologetic smile over breakfast, which he doesn’t actually understand why.

“It’s interesting to note, though,” Rei mutters, over Nagisa stealing pieces of his grilled mackerel. “That while Rin-san fell for Haruka-san—“

“Oh come on,” Rin grouches. “Fine, I used to crush on Haru, but let’s be real, everyone used to crush on Haru. Kisumi used to crush on Haru, Gou had a short crush on Haru, even _Nagisa_ used to crush on Haru!’

“I used to crush on Haru-chan,” Nagisa agrees cheerfully.

“Really,” Makoto says, almost curiously. “Because I only ever crushed on Rin.”

Rin turns to him with the most ridiculous, most disgusting look of a lovesick puppy. “Makoto…”

“—he was still smitten by Makoto-san,” Rei finishes, to the joined snorts of both Haruka and Sousuke. “It’d be great if I could do further research on this, Rin-san—“

“I am not smitten,” Rin grumbles, nearly stabbing his mackerel with his own chopsticks. “This is called a healthy relationship.”

“It’s okay, Rin-chan,” Nagisa pats his arm. “I think Mako-chan is just as smitten as you are.”

**\-----o0o-----**

There’s a stem of rose hidden under Haruka’s pillow when he wakes up the next day.

He stares at the rose for a moment, twirling it in-between his fingers. The other side of the bed is empty, but the whole apartment smells like pancakes. Haruka drags himself out of bed—doesn’t bother to put on pants or even drag the blankets with him—and leans on the bedroom door, still twirling the rose, looking over to the kitchen where he could barely see Sousuke bustling about.

“You’re early,” Haruka calls out. The whole kitchen seems to pause at that, and a moment later, Sousuke steps into clear view, obscuring Haruka’s line of gaze to the refrigerator.

Wearing nothing but the apron Rin had made and gifted to him yesterday.

“Morning,” Sousuke says lightly. “You have a rose.”

And then he disappears back into the kitchen.

Haruka hides a smile, pushes himself off the door and makes his way into the kitchen. It’s the weekend, and he could always open his café much later. There are more fun things to do in the kitchen other than cooking together while you’re naked, after all. 

**\-----o0o-----**


End file.
